"Point seventeen, Jaune Arc will act as Weiss Schnee's escort and bodyguard to all formal events for the period of their time at Beacon until Weiss Schnee graduates, unless one of the following clauses are activated. 1, Either of the above are affected by a malady that necessitates time in the medical bay. 2, One of them is away on a mission that cannot be re-arranged or passed onto another team... Has anyone told you that you are a little too OCD for your own good Weiss-cream?" Despite her teasing tone, Yang had to admit that she was more than a little impressed by the contract that Weiss had written out, even if she wouldn't expand on the 'dues owed by the Arc family to the Schnee family' no matter how much teasing she gave the young heiress.
"136 pages is actually quite short for a contract such as this, and without an official document I could never get my father to sign off on it. Besides, Jaune should be honoured to spend so much time with me, it will also give him a chance to meet many of Vale's people of interest at the various events that father will no doubt insist I go to in exchange for it..." Yang managed to keep the teasing smirk on her face, even as she mentally frowned at the expression that came over Weiss' face when she mentioned her father, smirk widening slightly as she worked out a way to get them off what could easily become an awkward situation given how Ruby was already looking like she wanted to pipe up.
"You know Weiss, if you wanted Jaune to become your boyfriend I am sure just asking him would have been an easier route... I don't think you needed to be so cold and clinical about it." To Weiss' credit she managed to last a whole 3 seconds after her awesome pun and insinuation before turning bright red in the face and turning on her with a glare that could have melted the ice Yang so often claimed Weiss was made from.
"How dare you imply..." Whatever else Weiss was going to say was cut off as Professor Port finally appeared into the lecture theatre, which was a shame as Yang had been looking forward to watching Mt Weiss erupt so beautifully, the heiress merely disregarding her with a huff and turning back to the front whilst obviously trying to reduce her blush without having to resort to ice dust.
"Yang, don't be so mean... And you don't mean it do you? About...About Jaune." Ruby's whisper from her right had Yang's attention off Weiss so fast that she almost heard her neck crack with the speed she turned her head.
"Does my little sister have a crush? And on your fellow team leader as well... You two would be so adorkable together..." As her sister's face turned into a blush to rival Weiss', Yang couldn't decide whether or not she needed to have a little 'chat' with her fellow blonde, Amber would understand if she roughed him up a bit to make sure he 'behaved'...
"Young Hunters and Huntresses, as much as I would like to jump straight into another one of my lectures about my younger days fighting the Grimm, there is firstly the matter of our first team competition of the year to be discussed." The boisterous baritone of Port's voice, announcing something other than one of his 'youthful adventures' seemed to grab the attention of the room before anyone could drop off to sleep in their usual manner, and Yang would be the first to admit her competitive side made her listen in as Port gestured at the board behind him, covered in chalk drawings of more than 2 dozen Grimm species.
"This Friday is the first time the second years will be sent out on missions across Vale, and it is a tradition of ours that we send a team into the Emerald forest to deal with any remaining Grimm that were drawn to the area by your initiation. On top of that, we have sent a first year team to observe and assist in the clearing of the forest each year, alternating the chosen group depending on which teacher is on the rotation to pick that year. You will get paid from the Beacon mission fund if you perform adequately and the report on your behaviour by the second year team is positive, and the main reason for this that you need to get used to working with people of different ages and abilities to your own! Why I remember back in the day..." And at that point Yang zoned out Professor Port's regression to his reminiscin-she means teaching style, when he eventually got to the point of explaining what the 'competition' was Yang knew that Weiss would write it down even if no-one else did, so it's not like she needed to pay attention anymore.
And it's not like any other team would beat theirs, no matter what the competition was they had every angle covered, Weiss could beat anyone in a written test and she wasn't a slouch even if Professor Port put her to sleep more often than not. And though it might sound a little overconfident, Yang was more than prepared to boast that the only one who might be herself in a fight was Pyrrha, and even then Yang thought she might be able to win it if it was usual duelling rules.
Blake covered them in terms of stealth and subterfuge, whilst Ruby was a mix of all three of them with her ridiculous speed on top of that! They couldn't lose, and then they would get to go show a second year team up at Grimm hunting and show how cool they were with a Yang! Chuckling at her own mental pun, Yang grunted as Ruby elbowed her firmly under the table, bringing her out of her reminiscing just in time for her to catch Professor Port explaining the competition.
"Each team will use their knowledge of the Grimm, either from their own personal knowledge and experience or the information I have bestowed upon you thus far, to write an 2 page essay detailing which combination of Secondus Grimm and Minor Grimm are the most potent and dangerous threat to a village of people in Vale, protected by a single B-class huntsmen and 12 guardsmen. The essay that leads to the highest number of theoretical casualties in a simulation of their attack shall be judged by myself to be the winner." The man finally paused for breath before gesturing up at the board.
"Now, you don't have to select a Secondus Grimm if you can think of a combination of Minor Grimm, but if you do the essay should written with the premise that there is only a single Secondus Grimm. I have put up the list of allowed Secondus Grimm on the board behind me, the other information has been sent to your leader's scrolls, and you have until tomorrow to hand in the essay to me or one of the other lecturers. All of your classes for the rest of the day have been cancelled, so I expect to have some good reading material by the end of the day!" And with that Port did his usual bellowing chuckle before the entire room burst into discussion, Yang leaning back in her seat with a chuckle, this was right up Weiss' street and she wouldn't have to get involved at all.
"This should be easy for you Weiss, let us know if you need someone to proofread it when you are done." Judging by the frown on the heiress' face as she turned to the three of them though, Weiss didn't share her confidence.
"But I don't know very much at all about Vale Grimm, and what I do know about them is either Majoris level and above or learned from..." She cut herself off, but the glance over to where team JNPR were packing their bags with a series of happy looks implied exactly where her knowledge had come from.
"We are talking about someone who lived in the Vale badlands for two years, for all we know this exercise is based on something he experienced whilst out there..." Yang was surprised, Weiss almost sounded... worried about the competition, and though she only knew the basics of Jaune's story based on what Amber had told her Yang knew she might have a point.
"Well, in which case we have no choice but to work together to beat them, to the library!" Ruby's commanding statement would have probably had more of an effect if she hadn't got cookie crumbs around her mouth from her 'pre-Port snack', which was Weiss' exasperated concession to get her little sister to pay attention in the man's class.
"So... Nevermind, it's clear that you are never going to actually listen to my attempts to make you into a respectable leader. Are you coming Blake?" Weiss' question didn't surprise Yang, whilst Blake was normally the quiet one of the group it was clear that she was being quieter than normal, though Yang had put it down to the ranging lessons the noirette had to partake in as part of the scouting classes.
"Of course, I'm fine... Can we go?" Something had spooked the girl, and judging by her refusal to look anywhere near the board as they negotiated their way past the other groups still in the room it was one of the Grimm that Professor Port had drawn, but Yang managed to resist the urge to ask further.
She still had nightmares about when she had stupidly gone out to try and find her mother and nearly got both her and Ruby killed, so other people being haunted by memories of the past was something she could understand.
"Of course partner, we wouldn't want to Yang around such a Blake place when we have a competition to win!" So Yang stepped in as she usually did when she felt the situation get awkward or unfriendly, distracting the rest of her team as the all groaned at the same time before turning away and undoubtedly rolling their eyes.
But she didn't care, they were a team now, and Dad had always insisted on one rule above all else when he had talked about hunter teams.
'Teams are like family, they will laugh, argue and fight over the smallest things like everybody does, but at the end of it all they are the ones you have to trust when your back is to the wall and the Grimm are closing in. So make sure that whatever team you're on, you make them smile as much as you make them groan...'
And though they would never admit it after seeing her tackle Jaune to the ground for laughing at one of her puns, Yang knew the other three members of her team shared a smile before stepping off away from her, exactly as she had intended them to...
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"So Velv, which of these firsties do you think we will get laboured with?" Coco's question made Velvet pause in her attempts to take subtle photos for her semblance, doing her best to avoid looking in the direction of the team she wanted to come with them as that would be what Coco was waiting for.
"You wanted to win as much as we did Coco, stop being such a downer about the whole thing..." Velvet relaxed slightly as Fox leaned back in his chair with his usual relaxed smirk being thrown in his partner's direction, his sarcastic wit and ability to make even Coco lose control of her emotions with his words something that was no doubt in the back of their leader's mind as she resisted the urge to reply to the comment with more than an angry look.
"We already know which teams are coming with us guys, so it's not worth arguing over..." Velvet couldn't help but look at Yatsu in shock, the gentle toned giant merely smiling in his usual warm manner at her questioning glance, what did he mean teams?
"You zoned out of Professor Port's talk when he announced we won our competition didn't you little one?" Velvet flushed as he pointed out her problem with Professor Port's style, the man constantly got distracted in his talking with his own tales and it just made him so... Frustrating!
"She's not the only one, I'm surprised you can put up with him Yatsu, but I suppose if anyone can it would be you. Now, what did you mean teams?" Yatsu merely continued smiling in his usual gentle manner before directing their attention to the arrival of the man in question, backed surprisingly by Dr Oobleck and Professor Peach of all people.
"Attention everyone! The results of your essays are in, and for the first time in the period that I have been running this test I have had more than one team achieve complete lethality of the villagers in a believable manner. But before we discuss them, I first want to impress upon the rest of you why so many of you got such low scores in the test." Professor Port gestured grandly to the screen on his left and over a dozen teams appeared, each with a mark of less than 50%.
"Many of you did not give an account of your 'village' and its terrain, in fact a few of you seemed to forget that there was a village at all and just had your Grimm trying to take down the huntsman on open ground. Such lack of attention to detail is something that would have you fail this class if you carried on in the same manner to the end of the year, as considering the advantages and disadvantages of your terrain is a skill that is vital to hunters as it is for the Grimm." At the admonishment Velvet could see more than a few flushed faces in the crowd as a few of the class turned to glare at another sitting close to them, but if they hadn't actually read the work they had dumped on one of the team it was as much their own fault as the one who had written it.
"Then there were those who managed to at least create their theoretical battleground correctly and array their Grimm on the battlefield to take the village and defeat the inhabitants, but did so in a manner that thankfully the Grimm are not capable of performing without at least one Alpha Grimm being present. The use of feints, cover and advanced tactics show that whilst these authors had a good understanding of strategy, they didn't have knowledge about the Grimm and how they would act in the wild." Velvet had to admit that the serious tone Professor Port was using surprised her, he obviously was taking this very seriously if he wasn't going off on a tangent every other sentence.
"These teams scored slightly higher, but wouldn't get anything beyond 60% if this had been an exam question." Another set of team names appeared, smaller in number but between it and the first list must have made up more than 2/3 of the class.
"There were only 6 teams that scored over 70%, which would be considered the pass grade for this kind of question in the exams, and these were the ones that we ran theoretical exercises to test the effectiveness of their attacks." The scores of the 6 teams were put up for a moment, just long enough for Velvet to notice that both of her preferred teams were in the running, as well as the team of bullies that her team had 'words with'.
Then they were replaced with three percentage figures, that Velvet assumed from what she had read of the assignment represented the huntsman's aura, the guardsmen and the civilians respectively. What surprised her was there were three teams that had a 100% figure next to the civilian figure, though one of them she noted with some glee had a giant red cross through it.
"As you can see, there were three teams that achieved 100% lethality of the civilian population, but obviously one team thought that I wouldn't recognise the almost identical method and wording used in the winning entry from the last time I ran this competition 3 years ago." Professor Port's gaze rested firmly on Team Cardinal at this point, and though the team leader glared back mutinously the other three looked uncomfortable enough to make it clear that it had been cheating rather than accidental.
"As such, whilst we go over the other two simulations, team Cardinal will go with Professor Peach for some remedial reminders about the advantages of doing their own work." It was surprising how cold the normally boisterous and over the top veteran was being as Peach collected the cheating team and removed them from the room in the quiet but no nonsense manner she was known for, but Velvet knew that Beacon took things such as cheating very seriously, even on non-graded work such as this.
Team Cardinal was probably lucky that they were the first offenders in this year, as that would mean they could claim some level of ignorance even if it was blatantly obvious that they had done it on purpose, so that would save them from the most severe punishments this time. But even if they weren't at risk of being suspended, they would not enjoy the results of their testing the academic waters.
"The first team paired an interesting set of Grimm together, and they also managed to find a loophole in my instructions by utilising the 'Mutalis' variant of an Ursa as their Secondus Grimm." There was a small whistling sound from Velvet's right, indicating that the fashionable mini-gun wielder was impressed with whatever that revelation had been announced by Professor Port just then, but judging by the confused looks elsewhere in the room Coco was one of the few to understand what was going on.
"Ms Rose, as it was your team that thought of the Mutalis, why don't you explain to your fellow classmates what the different sub-sets are categorised as and what prompted your choice of Grimm?" The young team leader looked like she was a deer caught in the headlights for a moment, before a nudge from her white haired team mate made her repeat something under her breath a couple of times before standing, whatever she said causing the three other members of team RWBY to clearly struggle at holding in their laughter.
"The main sub-categories of Grimm are usually not divided by species but rather by perceived threat rating that a single beast or pack poses, starting at Pestus classification for small Grimm such as Gaunts that even a civilian has a good chance against one on one." The fact that pretty much every Grimm in that category were pack animals went unsaid, but even a pack of Gaunts wouldn't cause much trouble against trainee hunters.
"Then we have Minoris and Secundus tier Grimm, which feature Beowolves, Ursa Minor, Ursa Major and so on, the divide upon which side a Grimm falls in these two cases is usually dependent on the age of the Grimm in question. The exceptions are Mutalis and Mutantis sub-species of these creatures, which are always classed as Secundus Grimm regardless of the origins of the altered Grimm in either Minoris or Secundus." Professor Port seemed pleased at her detailed answer, though given Velvet could see Weiss (who refused to let her call her by her surname) mouthing the words at points, it seemed she had spent some time drilling the details into Ruby's head.
"Very good Ms Rose, we will cover Mutantis Grimm in your second year as they are the rarest of the sub species you may encounter. But given the use of a Mutalis Ursa here I will use the simulation to show you both what one might look like and how it would act." The screen behind him lit up as Dr Oobleck pressed a button on his scroll, the camera doing a 360 degree turn around an animated village based in thick woodland at night time, with a few dozen houses and a palisade wall that was probably a dozen feet high.
"As you all know from the details I sent through to your scrolls, the limiting Grimm presence was to be rated at no more than a combat rating of 500, which would be 3 times the defensive strength of the village. This was both to force you to look into the categorisations of Grimm for combat rating values, as well as to make your lives a little easier when planning. Whilst team RWBY planned for using the full 500 'points' as it were, the use of this particular Mutalis as well as their choice of supporting Grimm meant that we were able to calculate that you would only need 437 combat rating's worth of Grimm in order to achieve civilian lethality in two out of the three scenarios we tested." The camera swivelled round and down into the forest to the south of the village, Velvet recognising the creature it ended up focusing on even as several in the crowd gasped at its appearance.
"The Bloody Maw..." The Ursa was massive even for one of its kind, slamming into trees and trampling undergrowth beneath its bulk as it lumbered forwards, single red eye focussed on the darkness ahead of it. Velvet was surprised at how much the beast was still capable of terrifying her even as a computer animation, Yatsu's comforting hand coming to rest on her shoulder without a word as she did her best to get her breathing back under control.
"Quite the beast isn't it? As you can see, a large portion of the Grimm's mask has been shattered, though no one can pinpoint exactly which mission or battle this might of occurred in. Usually if you shatter a Grimm's mask then the Grimm will perish almost instantly, but in some rare cases only a portion of it will disintegrate, leaving a portion of it behind to keep the Grimm alive. This is how Mutalis class Grimm are 'born', though their grasp on the world around them is even more limited than their 'full-bodied brethren..." As if to prove a point the massive Ursa suddenly reached back with its jaw and bit deeply into one of the few points on its body that now weren't completely covered in bone armour.
"An injured Grimm will recover and adapt to injuries it has sustained, growing armour plating, thicker hides and denser muscle as it gets older, eventually becoming an Alpha Grimm as its experiences provide that growth in intelligence to match. Thankfully, Mutalis Grimm are even less strategically aware than normal Grimm due to the damage they have received, which causes them to embark on a frenzied mixture of self-flagellation and hunger for battle." Ripping its maw for the thick fur of its upper front arm, the Ursa suddenly started bounding forward as fast as its large frame could muster, the camera staying ahead of it to show that wound it had taken was rapidly healing once more.
"It will fight like a rabid animal, with no concern for its own well being or risks posed to it, and because it forces along its own evolution as it were it can be near impossible to put down by a single hunter. Many of these Mutalis creatures become infamous in the Wilds, the dark stories told to remind even huntsmen to remind them that some Grimm truly are the stuff of nightmares, and each of the Kingdoms offers standing rewards for the verified sightings of known Mutalis Grimm" Obviously it's approach to the village had been noted by the guardsmen, as one in a watchtower behind the palisade raised the alarm, three of the other guardsmen rushing towards the section of the wall the massive Grimm was approaching even as the golden figure representing the huntsman started moving around the house he had been placed in.
"Now some of the other essays didn't seem to understand that all 12 guardsmen and the huntsman wouldn't be on duty at the same time, which is understandable as most of you no doubt come from the major cities and therefore are used to having a full standing watch force at all times. In the less civilised parts of the world however, and this is something for you to remember when you start going on long term missions, the Grimm won't just come when you are ready for them..."
It seemed some in the class understood that notion better than others, Velvet could see several of the gathered first years flinch in memory at Professor Port's words, though that could also have been as the video cut to the Ursa tearing one of the simulated Guardsmen in two with one bite of it's maw after knocking a section of the palisade over like it had been made of paper.
"Guardsmen are Vale's first line of defence for those who live in such villages and towns, whilst they aren't trained to the same level as you will be here many of them can take on several Grimm even in close combat, but against a Mutalis level beast..." Even as the Ursa gave a roar that made her sensitive ears hurt, Velvet noticed the approach of several more red dots approaching from different sections of the forest around the village, the camera cutting away from the Ursa's rampage to a section of the Northern palisade where a Guardsman was looking towards the sound of the fighting, unaware of the Grimm that climbed the wall and then dropped onto the flooring behind her almost silently.
"Beringel... Nice choice." It always unnerved Velvet slightly how Faunus her team mate could determine things like the type of Grimm in a simulation by just the sound of their footsteps, but given his lack of sight whilst still being a huntsman student she supposed it was the sort of ability that wasn't only useful but vital for his combat abilities.
"As some of you may be unaware, this type of Grimm is called a Beringel and they are probably the most human-like of the Grimm that you will encounter in your time as huntsmen. They are widely considered the most intelligent species of Minor/Secundus Grimm, and mixed with their high durability and strength they are every Guardsman's worst nightmare." That was true, Velvet had only faced half a dozen of the beasts in her time at Beacon, and even though the one in the simulation was clearly a Minoris level Grimm it was still almost half again the size of the Guardsman it snuck up on.
The Guardsman didn't even get a chance to react as the Beringel wrapped its giant arms around her and squeezed, the poor woman's struggles barely lasting a few seconds before several loud cracks brought them abruptly to an end. Between this and the Ursa's violence earlier several of the students were now looking slightly ill, something that Velvet knew was done on purpose to start hazing the students as it had happened with their 'test' last year as well, the last thing you wanted was a huntsman freezing up in the field because one of his comrades/charges had died messily nearby.
"Grimm are not only drawn by negative emotions, their other senses are just as good if not better than ours and this means that explosions and gunfire will usually only summon more Grimm." Thankfully Professor Port didn't seem willing to drag out the rest of the simulation, the Professor moving the camera view of the simulation to show the overhead view as the red dots showed more and more Grimm infiltrating the village as the huntsman engaged the Mutalis Ursa in an attempt to distract it from the Guardsmen, though the dozen Beringels were able to quickly overwhelm the scattered and disorganised defenders with only 4 of them being killed in return.
As the civilian losses climbed higher and higher it was clear that the simulation was pretty much over, but Velvet could hear people's surprise as the huntsman started withdrawing once the last Guardsman fell, something that Professor Port was quick to expand upon.
"Despite what you hear about a Huntsman's duty to fight the Grimm to the last breath, you will find that we are not training you to be martyrs, sometimes the hardest choice you will have to make is when to abandon the field to the Grimm so that you can live to fight another day. As callous as it seems, your lives are worth more than a failed mission or an overrun village, there are too few Huntsmen for us to give our lives so recklessly."
The message clearly struck some in the room more than others, Ruby looking like someone had just kicked a puppy in front of her or something, even her sister looked put out by the idea of running away from the Grimm rather than crushing them in battle. Even Velvet still hadn't fully accepted the idea of leaving helpless civilians to die, but if there was one thing the Vale Council were very clear on it was that anywhere outside of the main protected zone of Vale and its surrounding area was expendable in their eyes.
"Now, for the second simulation a Grimm was selected that hadn't been included in our simulation programming, which was only part of the reason I was so surprised at the essay in question. We have managed to get the Grimm in question included into the programming, but before we begin the simulation, perhaps team JNPR would like to explain their reasoning for not choosing a Secondus Grimm for this exercise at all?"
That got everyone's attention, even as Port pressed a button and the chosen Grimm by Jaune's team appeared on the screen, several people laughing at the first one before they seemed to realise that Port was entirely serious. To his credit, Jaune just gestured in the direction of the laughter as he stood up, face serious as he spoke firmly.
"That is exactly the reason why we chose the Grimm we did, everyone is here because they can kill Grimm, probably some fairly big ones if initiation was anything was to go by. But with that experience comes the overconfidence that those living in the Wilds associate with Kingdom huntsmen, that anything short of an Ursa in terms of 'strength' as you have defined it isn't a danger." Looking away from the blonde team leader for a moment as he paused for what she assumed was effect, Velvet glanced at the projector screen to see what Grimm he was talking about, the snarling face of the Grimm in question a lot less scary when it was in proportion to the human next to it for reference.
"Verminkind are considered one of the weakest Grimm, to the point that the Professor hadn't even assigned them a combat score for this test, after all even a pack of them can be dealt with easily enough with some AoE dust. After I spoke with him it took me quite the effort to convince my team to agree with my choice for the essay, I had to dig up a report from my grandfathers time to prove my point."
Jaune had obviously arranged all of this with Professor Port beforehand as the projector screen changed to a rather grainy picture that seemed to have been taken from a soldier's helmet video, but the literal wall of black fur and teeth that was enveloping several people in perhaps the bloodiest manner imaginable was easily discernible to Velvet's horror.
"Welcome to the Devastation of Hamlin, one of the bloodiest examples in recent history of the fact that ALL Grimm can be terrifying in the wrong circumstances, as well as one of the few validated reports of a Verminkind plague..." One of the students in the front row actually bolted from the room before Port changed the image to that of the beginning of the simulation, several others looking like they might join her judging by the green faces visible.
"Damn, blondie sure knows how to shock a crowd, I imagine several people are going to be looking up Hamlin after this, though from how he is speaking it sounds like he has more of a personal experience with these Verminkind..." Rather than sounding disgusted, Coco sounded almost impressed as she looked at the young man she had been teasing Velvet about after the incident in the library, the attention she was showing probably meant Jaune had moved from 'teasing material' to 'interesting', and from there it was just a short leap to 'shopping trip target'/acquaintance.
Professor Port was actually beaming as he stepped back up onto the lecturing stage, Jaune taking this as a cue to sit down as the Professor started speaking once more.
"The devastation of Hamlin is often considered a third year topic, but as Mr Arc has so brilliantly utilised it as a base for his own team's essay my colleague Professor Oobleck will be doing a special seminar about it this Friday evening available to all." The indignant call of 'Dr Oobleck' from the history teacher in question was ignored by the moustached Hunter as he gestured up at the simulation.
"The simulation for Verminkind isn't perfect, as we had some trouble actually assigning combat values that balanced the simulation, even a combat value of 0.1 meant that JNPR's essay beat every known result for this tests minimum combat value by almost 50 points, primarily due to their choice of secondary Grimm..." Rather than expanding, Port merely started the simulation, showing a town at the top of a rise surrounded by fields on three sides and a long slope down to a forest on the fourth side.
Then a haunting melody began playing as a single red dot appeared on the large map, Velvet distracted from the simulation at the growl that erupted from Fox as the music got louder, the Fox Faunus looking like he was barely restraining himself from drawing his weapons as Oobleck spoke to the class for the first time.
"What you are hearing is the sound of the Grimm we refer to as Pipers, who whilst classified as Minoris Grimm are one of the creatures that can have entire groups of hunters despatched to eliminate if there is a confirmed report. By themselves they aren't considered dangerous, but there are two distinct features that ensure their infamy in all the kingdoms." The melody pervaded the room as the camera moved to show what almost looked like a cloaked child, if it weren't for the black skin, red eyes and large horn like appendage that shot up from the front of their 'face'.
It then suddenly bloated like putrefied corpse, it's belly expanding to the point that it's cloak no longer sufficiently covered it as the music was silenced, before a high pitched whine made Velvet grab her ears in pain. A moment later the noise stopped and Velvet could see that she hadn't been the only one to react adversely, every Faunus in the room having been affected to various degrees.
"The Piper is capable of producing a sound through its nose 'pipe' that is undetectable by human hearing that can carry across kilometres, and it has an almost universal summoning effect on the Grimm who hear it. The only creatures that seem able to resist its call are Extremis level and above, even King Taijitu have been known to appear as part of a 'Grimm Mob', whilst all others will converge upon the Piper's location with an almost single-minded determination." The mini-map began to darken at Professor Port's words, as from all directions a tide of red dots began to appear, the alarm in the village blaring as the guardsman began to react to the music even as the Huntsman left through one of the gates.
"Thankfully, the gathering of so many Verminkind is impossible naturally, the fall of Hamlin was masterminded by a terrorist group who shipped both the Piper and the Verminkind to the village in question, but for the purposes of this exercise no limitations were placed on the natural concentrations of Grimm. With a mob gathered, the Pipers can then whip their fellow Grimm into a frenzy, causing a small increase in their strength and then allowing the Pipers to direct them with their music."
The Hunter was moving in somewhat of a random pattern, clearly searching for the source of the music to eliminate it aggressively, something that greatly differed from the RWBY animation where there had been a clear effort to stay behind the villages static defences.
"Killing a Piper will cause the Grimm in a Grimm mob to temporarily attack anything nearby, including the other Grimm in the mob. For this reason it is vital to kill a Piper as soon as possible once the Grimm begin to converge, as it vastly reduces the threat of the Grimm mob. In fact, during my younger days it was considered a valid if controversial tactic to capture a piper alive, use it to summon all the low level Grimm in the area before killing the Piper, causing the Grimm to wipe themselves out and make the area much safer." The practice had been outlawed about twenty years ago, when a Grimm mob and its Piper survived to destroy several large Mistrali villages before disappearing into the Wilds.
Before the Hunter could reach the Piper though the wave of Red moved in his direction and the view changed to what must have been the Hunter, the woodland he was searching through suddenly becoming enveloped in a veritable tide of black and red and white. The hunter barely managed to fire of a few dust rounds from his assault rifle/spear combi weapon before his vision was surrounded by the thousands of claws and tiny teeth, his aura level dropping so rapidly that if Velvet hadn't been watching she would have assumed that it had occurred instantly.
"Aura can protect you from a lot, but that many attacks from all sides will sap it far more quickly that a single blow from most larger Grimm. I won't show the rest of the simulation, but this is the reason we encourage all of you to learn at least basic dust use and carry some fire dust on you at all times, you never know when it might save you or your team's life." It was possibly the single most useful lesson Port had ever imparted and something that Velvet knew even she had been guilty of ignoring, after all with her Semblance why would she need dust?
"Now, normally I would have picked team JNPR based on their combat score rating, but it has been pointed out to me by the Headmaster that I only said the team that could come up with an effective combination of Grimm to wipe out a village would be the winners, which means that picking one team or another would be disobeying the spirit of the competition. Therefore, if teams RWBY and JNPR would join me to discuss the mission, the rest of you are welcome to a free half period. Perhaps some of you might wish to use the time to discuss how to improve for the next essay I will set in a fortnight?"
Judging by the queasy expressions still present on a few faces, Velvet couldn't help but think that for some, what they had witnessed and planning ahead for another Grimm attack would be the last thing on their minds...
A/N: I had originally planned for this to be two separate chapters, to give people a chance to plan their own Grimm attack, but there wasn't enough meat for me to put in the middle to do so in the end.
In terms of Grimm studies, I wanted to make the class less of joke than it is in the series, even if that was no doubt intentional from the creators PoV. And what better way to test your understanding of the monstrous Grimm than by having you 'command' them? Port will switch it up of course, with later essays having them plan the defence or command of larger units etc. If nothing else it makes the students understand how to defend a town or settlement better, simply by learning what not to do.
What do people think of Mutalis Grimm (Got the idea looking at the Beringel in the Vol 4 Prequel and I think it's quite cool)? And the Verminkind? In RWBY as well as other fanfic favourites it has become commonplace to feel the need to 'one up' the enemies compared to the canon, in no small part due to the fact that most fanfics super charge at least one of the character's to the point that normal enemies don't cut it.
But when they do in RWBY the new Grimm are either intelligent to the point that they can use tactics like humans, strong enough to make normal hunters seem weak, or both! I have tried to avoid both of these as well as to give a poignant reminder about the true threat that the Grimm pose in my eyes. Intelligent Grimm are dangerous, yes, but as proved in the show that intelligence actually seriously helps the Kingdoms.
Goliaths have learned that going near Vale means they will die, intelligent elder Grimm will fall back rather than fight to the death even if doing so meant killing a couple more huntsmen, imagine if they didn't have that restraint? Self-preservation amongst the Grimm is actually something that helps as much if not more than it hinders in my opinion. I'll leave that one for people to stew on.
And I almost forgot, Weiss sending a contract to her father to obtain Jaune's services, how do you think he will react? What price will he demand from the pair of them in return for this?
As always, review and let me know what you think, see you all next time!
Defias out!